NORDIS WEEKLY
February 19, 2006

 

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Abra folk trace Luba fish kill to Lepanto mine wastes

BAGUIO CITY (Feb. 15) — According to Abra officials in a press conference here, cyanide from mining operations and not from local folk, caused the fish kill in Luba, Abra.

Municipal Councilor Romeo Daoaten and Municipal Environment Officer Mito Baculi assailed the provincial environment office for blaming local folk for the pollution of the Abra River. They said there is no other source of much cyanide than Lepanto Consolidated Mining Corporation (Lepanto), which is operating upstream in Mankayan, Benguet.

Baculi recalled that several species of fish floated on February 25 and 26 after the volume of the river water and its color drastically changed. Baculi said any change in the volume and quality of river water would be easily noticed by local folk who cross the river many times daily.

“It could not be the local residents who polluted the river because we have a municipal ordinance which imposes penalties on polluters,” Baculi told the media. He adds that if found guilty of polluting any part of the river, one is fined one carabao. “Pangalaan ngay ti tao ti nuang?” (Where will people get a carabao) he asked in fury.

According to officials, the fish kill affected six Luba barangays, including Poblacion, where most households depend on fishing and agriculture. Baculi estimated some 4,000 households in these barangays.

Daoaten said the local folk would not do anything that will affect their source of livelihood. “Ti karayan ti pangal-alaanmi ti lames nga inaldaw a kanenmi. Kasla palengke ti karayan ta awan met ti dadduma pay a pangalaan ti lames,” (The River is the source of fish that we eat daily. It serves as our market because there is no other source of fish) Daoaten explained.

In the same press conference, the Save the Abra River Movement (STARM) reaffirmed the Luba officials’ claims when it released initial results of laboratory tests. These showed that two samples of river water taken from the said river on January 29 yielded 0.064 milligram per liter (mg/l) and 0.076 mg/l of cyanide. According to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), a fish kill can occur with only 0.05 mg/l of cyanide.

According to Dr. Ana Marie R. Leung, STARM convenor and spokesperson, another water sample was taken near Lepanto’s Carbon-in-pulp mill on February 8, and this had 26.4 mg/l of cyanide.

“Since 2003, the Save the Abra River Movement has documented Lepanto’s discharge of toxic chemicals into the environment,” Leung said. She added that despite Lepanto’s claims of being an ‘environment-friendly mine, it is evident that it is doing otherwise. “Coming on the heels of the cyanide spill in Rapu-Rapu, Albay, the Luba incident puts the mining industry’s claims of responsible mining into serious question. Not only the newly opened mines like Rapu-Rapu, are polluting the environment, but more so the older mines have been causing damage for decades. We are therefore united with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in asking for a repeal of the Mining Act of 1995 which serves as the framework for this continuing plunder of our natural resources, “ Leung.

Jose Casionan, vice chairperson of Maquitacdg (Mankayan Quirino Cervantes Tadian Danggayan a Gunglo) and a native of Cervantes, Ilocos Sur, also observed that the river water from Mankayan during the typhoon Agaton in January was blackish and abnormally large.

Casionan also noticed that the level of the water behind the tailings dam in Colalo went down, instead of higher, during and after typhoon Agaton.

“Awan ti natay a lames sadiay ta nabayag nga awan ti agbiag nga uray anya,” (There was no fish kill there because there have been no fish living there for a long time) Casionan said.

Meanwhile, Bangued vendors reportedly refused to sell fish, which they observed, died unnaturally. Pastor Jordan Rivas, who is coordinating local efforts in the Abra River advocacy and a resident of Bangued, said that vendors know when the river is polluted because the catch from the river smells foul.

Regional Director Neoman B. dela Cruz of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (MGB-DENR) admitted in a letter to STARM dated Octber 5, 2005 that it has filed two cases against Lepanto for exceeding the cyanide concentration during the first quarter of 2004 and high dissolved solids loads of effluent on the fourth quarter of the same year.

Dela Cruz informed Leung that Lepanto has been asked to pipe the mill tailings and treat the acidic underground water, which the company’s Mine Rehabilitation Fund Committee (MRFC) has agreed with. # Lyn V. Ramo for NORDIS

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